I use canned tomatoes with one ingredient: tomato pulp. You can cook down fresh tomatoes to make tomato pulp, but it will take a while. Canned is way cheaper than store bought fresh tomatoes, and they are already closer to the consistency I want.

It needs to be simmered until it reaches the right thickness. I find a half hour on medium does it. It needs to be stirred, especially as it gets thicker, so that it doesn't stick to the pan. It should be refrigerated for a few hours before eating.

This doesn't taste exactly like store bought ketchup, so if you try it, you may need to tweak it to your tastes, adding either more sweetener or changing the amount of apple cider vinegar.

We didn't switch for cost, although the price is good for the amount this makes. We switched because we don't like the ingredients in store bought ketchup. My son loves this ketchup and eats it plain. I don't have a problem with him gobbling it down, as there is nothing in it that is bad for him. In fact, it's really quite healthy. (Click the picture to see color.)

I get between three and four cups from this recipe. That will vary depending on how thick you want yours. I put it in a jar and keep it in the fridge. I've never had a jar go bad, and it takes us a few months to go through it.

18 comments:

Just an interesting fact for everyone: The Hunt's ketchup made in Canada doesn't have any HFCS in it. I don't know why that is and why Hunt's can't bring that recipe here - but my husband and I now pick up ketchup every time we are in Canada. It's sweeter than the Hunt's made in the US but we like it better too.

Katie, HFCS isn't allowed in food in Canada, which is why you don't see it there. Corn subsidies in the US are the reason the recipe won't be coming to the US without shifts in food policy. The book "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan is worth the read if this kind of thing is interesting to you.

I make ketchup from a half bushel of garden tomatoes, cooked and run through a sieve, add 4 12 oz cans tomato paste, some vinegar, dehydrated onions, sugar, and spices to taste. Whisk well. Can in pints in pressure canner 15-20 minutes at 10lbs pressure. You can use water bath method, but I use a pressure canner.

Emily- I was also going to recommend the crockpot365 website. I have tried a few of her recipes during the last year and haven't been disappointed. I dont believe that I have ever made my own ketchup but we do use fresh tomatoes and can homemade spaghetti sauce and salsa in a similar manner.

This looks really good. My husband won't eat store-bought ketchup, and keeps telling me how much better his homemade ketchup tastes (he grew up on a farm where they had so many tomatoes they fed even the slightly blemished ones to the pigs.) Of course, in 13 years of marriage, he has yet to produce this mythical manna. Maybe I'll nudge him. No point in both of us knowing the secret of great ketchup.